Takao - Jimba

A couple of weeks ago had chance to hike from Mt. Takao to Mt. Jimba. Both are fairly near to Tokyo but the total hike is about 20 km and takes about 6 hours. Luckily..unluckily there was a reasonable amount of snow on the ground which made the going slower than usual Take strong legs ;-)

Tokyo Horse 東京の馬

Living in the middle of Tokyo would make you think that there wasn't much chance to see or ride horses but actually thats not the case... I live in Setagaya and not far away is Bajikoen Equestrian Park 馬事公苑 (see here for the website) They hold a variety of different events here such as riding lessons, horse games, days for Children etc.....










I was going to Meiji Shrine (明治神宮) yesterday and so got off the train at参宮橋駅 on the Odakyu line. As I was walking to the shrine I noticed another horse park with people taking riding lessons and also children being given the chance to ride ponies.









After further inspection it turned out to be Tokyo Riding Club 東京乗馬倶楽部 (website here)
It is a club but you can also go there as a visitor. Prices range from about 7,000yen for a 45 minute ride on a horse to packages for a number of lessons within a given time period.












Of course you could also just ride a pony :-)

Sausage Rolls

A staple food item in many countries there are sausage rolls in Japan of course....

Here is a standard sausage roll

A little bigger

And then there is the monster sausage roll (which was very good actually, having mustard and cheese inside always helps)


Finally, you can get sausage rolls in Pizza very strange....









The traditional sausage roll is made with puff pastry with sausage meat in the centre, a little different from the one above... If you want to try making them there is a recipe here

Setagaya Line 東急世田谷線

The Setagaya Line is a short train line running though... well Setagaya of course....

It is actually not a train but a tram (street car) so it often crosses a street and the actual carriage doesnt really look like a train...



The Setagaya Line is only 5km is is one of only two trams in the Tokyo area (the other is 都電荒川線) and also has its own smart IC card system ( I have to do another post on Japanese Smart cards but please wait for now or request in the comments). You can see an example of the card here which can be bought as a prepaid , top up card or a monthly pass....they can be actually used as both..






Check out the website (in Japanese) here :-)
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Convenience Stores ｺﾝﾋﾞﾆ

Convenience stores are everywhere in Japan, living in Tokyo makes it even more likely that there is one lurking around every corner..

So are they good or bad?








Well they certainly are convenient as the name suggests they offer a wide range of different products although not a wide range (in general) within a specific product type.....unless its alcohol ;-)

They are open 24 hours, and also often offer other facilities such as an ATM, fax, Copying (in color with digital photo printing) and a delivery service. ...
The bad thing about being never closed is that if you are feeling temptation for a late night snack or drink then you can always get one...which probably means you are more likely to get one..hmmmm

One very good thing about them though is that periodically you can win things as they run promotions... Just last week I won an instant noodle and a box of mints totaling 700yen in value...not bad.





Whats the best thing you have won in a convenience store?....